Find Calm In A Storm
/Dear Yogis
Well, now that you’re locked down, under house arrest, what about starting or improving your meditation practice! I know... the reluctance. Once you get going, though, you’ll add it to your yoga practice and it will become all-of-a-piece.
The yoga we practice was born in ancient times and was pretty much only concerned with meditation. Posture practice is a relatively modern thing, but moving with the breath is just another way of watching the breath which, in turn, is an entry-level technique of meditation.
Back in Buddha times in the city of Vaishali, present day Bihar, there was a particular period of drought, famine and disease and, as they believed, malevolent beings. This period is known as the background of the ‘Ratana Sutta’ (The Jewel Discourse) which is a chant to protect people from famine and disease. Fable has it that this chant ended the evil period, pestilence was destroyed and prosperity returned! (The London Buddhist Vihara is reciting this chant every day on Facebook at 6.00pm).
So what does the chant tell us to do? Meditate! Practice the ‘wholesome Path of Contemplation‘! In the first line, whether you’re terrestrial or celestial, having peace of mind is begins the discourse. Ha! The sutra goes on to tell us to radiate loving kindness, have a steadfast mind, and be ‘as a post deep-planted in the earth standing unshaken by the winds from the four quarters’.
This is my favourite line: about finding calm that is like ‘the woodland groves in the early heat of the summer months crowned with blossoming flowers’. Perhaps you can focus on this image, or one of your own, in a meditation practice.
What Our Yogis Are Doing
New Friday Email heading! I thought I would bring you stories from fellow yogis. Here’s one. I have told you about 106 Coffee before, at Christmas. Their business is extending into bread delivery: fresh bread and pastry delivery for the Haymills Estate and surrounding areas with deliveries on Tuesdays and Fridays.The bread is from a bakery who provides places such as Gail's. www.106coffee.com/bread
Home Studio Zoom Classes
The link for the 'Easy, Stretchy Yoga' classes on Monday and Tuesday is this:
Join Zoom Meeting: https://us04web.zoom.us/j/105440328 . Alternatively you can join the class with this Meeting ID: 105 440 328. It’s the same every week.
The link for the 'Ashtanga-Based Yoga' classes on Wednesdays and Thursdays, is this:
Join Zoom Meeting https://us04web.zoom.us/j/293739434 . Alternatively you can join the class with this Meeting ID: 293 739 434. It’s the same every week.
Note the time - it's different to usual: 7.00-8.00pm.
Evening classes from my studio are free so have a go.
Yoga in the news
The Independent has How to start practicing yoga at home: A guide for beginners. Hilarious article. They recommend, for the beginner, a £100 mat and £75 leggings. Honestly! At the risk of sounding like my Nan, it wasn’t like that on my day! Quote of the moment: ‘We may earn commission from some of the retailers, but we never allow this to influence selections’.
Southwark News has: Stay strong while you #StayHome with Pilates with Lucy. She says: ‘“You attract very different people to Pilates than you do to yoga. There’s some very basic similarities. I describe Pilates as a crossover between yoga and physiotherapy.”’
Stay safe and well. I hope misfortune doesn’t touch you or your loved ones. If it does, I have a big space in my heart for you.
